Peppermint
by lovepadfoot
Summary: She was by far the most unusual seventh year he had ever seen. One-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Another ONE-SHOT! Leave a review!** **DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything you recognize!**

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I watched her bite her lip as concentrated on the task in front of her. Potions was right before lunch, so most people's attention was on their stomachs not class work. However, Lily Evans wasn't most people. She was by far the most unusual seventh year I had ever seen. For one, she had red hair. Not the orange hair most "redheads" had. In my opinion, that wasn't red. It was orange. They were all orange-heads. But she wasn't. Lily Evans had red hair. It was the color of an apple— no scratch that— the shade of red of her hair was far prettier than just an apple or an orange. It was red. Simply red. And of that wasn't unusual, then her eyes were. They were green. Green and red, the perfect color combination.

My eyes focused on her as I caught her hand snaking into her bag. She extracted a small light blue wrapper. I recognized it as peppermint.

Sneakily, she put one peppermint on her cutting board and cut it into a small piece. She popped one half into her mouth and the other into the perfectly brewed potion.

My eyebrows furrowed. Peppermint wasn't supposed to be added to a cheering solution.

I double checked the textbook, nope, no peppermint.

Suddenly, a loud bang interrupted my thoughts.

I looked over at her table to see Lily covered in her potion. Her red hair was wild with bits of blue, while her face was covered in the potion.

She stared at her cauldron blankly, before placing her hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking in suppressed mirth.

"Miss Evans! My word! What has happened?" Slughorn said his eyes taking in her ruined potion and shaking form.

She giggled. "I kind of, sort of, experimented." She said smiling hugely, as if the potion had done exactly what she had wanted.

His eyes were wide, as he inspected the potion. "My word. It smells like peppermint." He said more to himself.

Suddenly the Professor brightened. "Good Merlin. You tried to make is taste better!" He said excitedly.

The red-head nodded before dissolving into a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry. The cheering solution—is — really strong." She said in between laughs.

Slughorn looked amused. "Will someone accompany Miss Evans to the hospital wing." He said chuckling lightly.

I said the words without thinking.

"I'll do it."

Lily looked at me, her eyes filled with laughter. She was beautiful. Even covered with blue potion.

"Thank you Mr Potter."

We walked out of the classroom, Lily was still chuckling.

"Sorry—about this." She said giggling.

I grinned at her. "No problem. As the Head Boy it is my duty." I said shrugging.

"Hmm. Accompanying the Head Girl to the Hospital Wing after she blew up a potion is exactly what the Head Boy should do. You're very responsible." She said happily.

"What can I say. It's in my nature." I said casually.

Her lip trembled, before she dissolved into a fit of laughter. "Oh Merlin! You are too good." She said punching me lightly in the arm as she wiped a tear of mirth from her eye.

"And you are barmy. Although I am curious to know why you ruined a perfectly good potion." I said eyeing her closely.

She took her hair out of her messy bun and ran her hands through it lightly. "Did you know cheering solutions are mainly used in hospitals?"

I shook my head. She smiled and continued talking. Her hands gesturing animatedly. "Mainly for people that are in immense pain. I thought about it and cheering solutions seemed to taste very bitter. The solution always leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. So I decided I would make it taste better. So people won't have the vile taste in their mouths when they are under the influence of the potion. That way they can enjoy the potion while it lasts and they'll be... happier!" She said happily.

I stared at her. I had to admit, I always had a crush on her. She was smart, funny and pretty. Three things almost every guy wants. Not to mention that her kindness was far greater than that of anyone I had ever known. She never liked me though. Who could blame her? I was an arrogant prat around her. After that lake incident in 5Th year, she lost her best friend and a year later, her parents were murdered in a death eater massacre. She was devastated. I never bothered her with my incessant date proposals after that. It was the one thing I could offer her. I drifted apart from her in 6th year. I gave her space. Now, we worked along side each other and we were friends. And honestly, I don't know anyone (besides Sirius) who could be so...lively after all they had been through. My crush had grown again. She made it so easy for people to like her. The kindness radiated from her like a perfume. I liked her. Alot. Sirius would make stupid joke about me being a lovesick idiot.

I examined the girl that was suppressing giggles in the sleeve of her robes. Did I love her? The thought brought me up short. I doubted it. I didn't know her well enough to love her. But...it would be so effortless to love her. It would be like flying. The adrenaline and euphoria mixed in with sheer happiness. Simply effortless.

"Hey, Lily?"

"Yes, James?"

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next trip?" I asked lightly.

"Like date?"

"I hope so." She stared at me, as if checking to see if I was serious, before she broke out into a smile.

"I'd love to." I silently cursed as I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Great. Yeah. Awesome." I stuttered.

She laughed loudly at my red face, "Are you blushing? _The_ James Potter, actually blushing!?" She ruffled my hair causing me to flush even more and her to dissolve into another fit of laughter.

Yep. It would be effortless.

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**Hehehe! I really like this fanfic and I hope you do too!** **Not leaving a review is a fanfiction sin! I hope you'll give me some feedback on this story. It's one of my favourites and I could actually see this as how Lily and James got together. Hope you do to. **


	2. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey guys! I'm sorry that this isn't another chapter like you guys wanted. I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed and I was wondering if anyone knew any good betas. Apparently I have excellent ideas but I just need someone to touch up my final drafts. Please PM me if you are interested. I will formally put up the requirements sometime soon.

Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed.

-Love Always,

Kimmi :P


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